


Movement

by acrylicsalt



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: All happiness and fluff, Awkward Lucien, Azriel deserves to be happy, Cerridwen and Nuala are best friends with Elain, Elain Archeron/Azriel Fluff, F/M, Like super light fluff, Mentions of the mating bond, POV Elain Archeron, Rhysand and Feyre make a small appearance, Velaris, awkward dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 05:45:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18147872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acrylicsalt/pseuds/acrylicsalt
Summary: Elain moved into her own place in Velaris. This is a one-shot of what her life is like living alone... including awkward dinners, winged goobers, and lots of flowers.





	Movement

Elain moved out of the town house after Ferye started construction on their new home by the Sidra. She moved into her own house far up the cliffside in Velaris to be close to the sun. She had been working in the kitchens and tending to the garden with Cerridwen and Nuala so much that Rhysand began paying her for her work. She had protested at first, but when he wouldn’t relent she gave up.

With her money she bought herself a spacious greenhouse… large enough to live in as well. She had always talked about wanting to see the sun and be outside and now her house was entirely transparent. Elain filled it with so many plants that they covered every inch of the walls; leaving only the roof open to the natural sunlight.

Her bedroom - if it could be called that - was up in the loft. White stairs led straight up to a platform that held a mattress with ivory bedding, a dresser, and a gold rack full of clothes. Wisteria vines climbed up behind her bed like a headboard. Under that platform was a white clawfoot tub and powder room, surrounded Moonflower and Trumpet vines making it near impossible to see past.

The first time Ferye visited her new home tears had sprung up in her eyes. She had brought Rhysand with her so they could check up on how Elain fared. The humidity in the greenhouse made both their hair curl and frizz, while Elain had mastered the perfect braid to keep her hair tame.

Elain knew immediately why that silver lined her sister’s eyes. She saw it in her mind the second Ferye had thought it: images of the Spring Court blossomed forth. Elain had kept quiet about her vision and turned to give her sister the privacy she needed to move past her trauma. They had left quickly after that with promises to visit.

Cerridwen and Nuala came every day with food and to spend time with Elain. The three of them had become close friends and she held the twins dearly in her heart. At night they would come and spend their evenings with her if Rhysand and Ferye didn’t need them for anything. They would drink the red wine that sat in a small bar cart under the stairs. There was no kitchen in this place, but her friends took care of her to such extremes that she didn’t need one. The twins helped educate Elain on Fae history and proper etiquette (as requested by Elain, although the twins tried to assure her that etiquette was very loose). 

When Elain was alone she would be taking care of her plants, or working in a nearby pastry shop she had applied to. There was only one time during the day when there wasn’t enough distraction to keep her from seeing… seeing either the past or the future. The past tore her apart at night, while the future confused and muddied things.

One night during these terrors she got out of bed, sweat clinging to her body. She padded downstairs and quickly to her front door, which she flung open. It opened towards Velaris and the ocean. The cool breeze froze the sweat and she took a deep breath. Elain moved to a small white metal chair that sat in front of her house; her patio was next to the front door and tiny patio set was sitting there. Her honey brown eyes stared at the twinkling lights and the sea as she absent-mindedly touched her pointed ears.

She was so lost in thought that she startled when something soft rubbed against her leg. A fluffy white mass was headbutting her shin. It’s blue eyes were bright when it looked up at her and meowed. It was white with some orange characteristics: it’s tail, ears, and feet were tinted with red. Just as she was about to reach down to pet it, it jumped up in her lap and curled up. The warmth was more comforting than she could understand.

Elain placed her hand on its head and scratched behind the ears. “Aren’t you the softest thing?”

And that was how a cat moved into her greenhouse with her.

\-----

Her Fae life had suddenly become “before cat” and “after cat”.

After the cat, she had a friend with her constantly. The cat would climb up on her shoulders and hang out with her, whipping her in the face with it’s soft tail sometimes. It would constantly purr on her shoulder and watch everything she did. She was watering a fig tree when a knock sounded on the glass door. Elain set down her water pail and wound her way through the maze of plants to the front door.

When that fiery red hair was the first thing she saw, she almost turned around to pretend she wasn’t home. That thought earned her a whip in the face by the cat’s tail.

“Okay, okay,” she muttered to the cat as she took a deep breath and opened the door. He stood there holding a bag full of take out food. He wore only a white loose shirt, tucked into tan trousers. Lucien shifted from foot to foot and cleared his throat.

“You got a cat?” He asked in way of greeting. The cat grumbled in response as Elain nodded.

She stepped out and motioned to her patio set on the front porch; the Foxgloves by her door in full bloom. That bond between them made her deeply uncomfortable as it pulled taunt at his arrival. Lucien turned and began unpacking the dinner in the bag he brought.

“I hope you like noodles,” He began to babble to fill the silence. “I asked Feyre what kind of food you like, but even she wasn’t too sure.” A wheatgrass bowl was filled with noodles in a brown sauce was placed in front of her as she took a seat. “And… I wasn’t sure if you ate meat so I picked something that just… pulled me.” Lucien abruptly stopped talking as he sat down, trying not to bring up their mating bond.

Elain put the cat on the ground by her feet and settled into what was sure to be a very awkward dinner.

“Thank you for bringing me dinner,” She said as politely as she could. The sun was setting over the sea horizon. He timed this so perfectly so they could have a sunset dinner. It pained her a little to know how hard he tried. 

“It was…” An awkward pause. “... the least I could do.” He cleared his throat and picked up a fork, if only to have something else to do. The cat moved to sit in front of Lucien and stare intensely at him. He glanced at it.

“You got a flame point cat?” He asked, and she felt that bond between them flicker with something like hope. Elain pushed that feeling away.

“It just walked up to me one night and lives here now,” Elain stared at the cat, instead of looking at Lucien.

“Did you name it?”

“No… not yet. I’m not sure I will name it. It’s free to come and go and if I name it that’s the beginning of ownership.” She took a big bite of the food, but was really too distracted to taste it. This whole thing was just too unnatural for her.

Lucien made a noise as if in agreement.

They made small talk for the rest of the dinner before he left and she was left to shake the feeling of unease off.

\-----

Elain was sitting in her wicker chair, threading together flowers in a crown. Faelights bobbed to illuminate her small living room. The cat was curled up on her green velvet, tufted settee, a small flower crown was already on its head. A gentle knock sounded twice on her front door and her heart sped up a little bit.

“It’s unlocked!” She only had to raise her voice slightly for her guest to hear. She turned in her seat to watch as shadows entered her home first, then followed by a tall dark figure. Wings tucked in tight, he took in her home. Those hazel eyes scanned everything down to the small table of succulents.

His eyes finally landed on her and he froze in mid step. She felt heat rise up on her cheeks as he stared. She felt stripped bare under that intensity; she wore her hair in a french braid and a dusty pink dress that flowed down to the ground. It covered her arms, cuffed at the wrists with a velvet strip of the same color. She was barefoot under the dress.

Azriel pivoted and made to move to her, a small smile on his lips. The second he turned, the bottom of a wing knocked over a small planted Pilea. His eyes widened at the loud noise and whipped towards the plant as if he could catch it. The motion caused his wings to knock over more plants behind him. He turned towards those fallen plants and his shadows abandoned him, as if leaving him to clean up his own messes.

The look of helplessness on his face was too much for Elain. This big strong Illyrian male currently wrecking her home with his wings, which were already tucked in too-tight. She burst out laughing. The cat was glaring pointedly at Azriel from it’s seat on the settee and Elain laughed harder. Azriel’s wide eyes softened as he smiled at that beautiful noise.

“Hi,” he said at last, afraid to move any more. She had to clamp a hand over her mouth, She fell back into her seat, trying to stop laughing. Elain motioned for him to come in. Once he carefully picked his way over to her, she pointed towards the wine rack, her laughing dying down to giggles.

As he poured them two glasses of wine, she finally spoke and his heart stuttered.

“Welcome to my home.”

\-----

The next time he visited, the plants had been rearranged to give him more room, and there was one seat big enough for Illyrian wings.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to imagine she placed the flower crown on Az's head and all was right in the world. I've read through the series twice and I have some MAJOR withdrawal.


End file.
